La Frostita Fantomo
by AndieZIR
Summary: Rylie Fenton never thought looking for her grandparents would turn out like this.
1. Chapter 1: Frozen

It was a cold Christmas Eve in Amity Park, Illinois. Most families were inside, as a snow storm raged on outside. Nine-year-old Rylie Sara Fenton sat at the window, looking at the snow-covered front lawn of the manor. Specifically, she was looking at the driveway, waiting for her grandparents.

The girl had her black hair done up in pigtails, wearing a Christmas dress picked out by her mother. The dress was black at the top with a red and green plaid skirt, and she had white tights on under the dress. She had black Mary Jane's on and wore burgundy framed glasses that framed her amethyst eyes. In her arms was a well-cared-for Stitch plush.

"They'll be here, Ry, don't worry," her Aunt Jazz had said earlier. Jazz was wearing a black dress with candy canes on it, a red and white striped headband in her red hair.

"Mommy, I how can I give grandpa Jack his present if he's not here?" She had asked her mother. "He drives too fast to not be here already."

"Your grandpa Jack wouldn't miss this for the world," her mother replied. Sam was wearing a black sweater that said _Have Yourself a Creepy Little Christmas_ and dark red pants. Her hair was down for once, which Rylie thought made her look beautiful. "Don't worry, Rylie."

 _Where could they be_? She asked herself, looking back at the Christmas tree. Her Nana and Papa were there as well, using Christmas as an excuse to come over and connect with her. They didn't even celebrate, but it was kind of nice to see them trying to make an effort for her.

Her Nana had tried to get her into some girly dress, but Rylie made a face. Her Nana could never get the texture right for the dresses she bought.

Papa had tried to cheer her up, too. "Hey it's okay that Jack's not here, you can still have fun with Papa right?"

"No!" Rylie exclaimed. "Grandpa lets me play with the ectoguns!"

"He lets you _what_?" Sam asked, poking her head in the room.

"... For practice when I'm older?" She said sweetly.

"Your father and I will be talking to grandpa about that later," the gothic woman sighed and shook her head, going back into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Danny went to the door, getting ready to leave. He was wearing a collared shirt with a festive grey sweater over it and jeans. He didn't look as festive, but Rylie thought it was nice he tried. He didn't really like the holidays, after all.

"Daddy, are you gonna go find them?" Rylie asked softly as she walked over to him, looking at her father with worry. It was still snowing pretty hard out.

"Don't worry, Ryles," he said with a small smile, ruffling her hair slightly. He seemed to know what she was thinking. "I'm just going out to find Phantom. He'll be able to find them."

"But it's… It's still snowing really hard," she said with a frown. "Are you sure he'll be able to find them?"

"Definitely," Danny said with a nod and a smile as he grabbed his coat. "How about you go get some hot cocoa from your mom, alright?"

"I… I guess…" Rylie mumbled, shuffling towards the kitchen before stopping. She heard the front door open and then shut. She paced around for a few moments before getting an idea.

"... I'll go look for them too," she mumbled to herself, running to grab her coat and boots from the closet near the front door. She could look from the ground while Phantom looked from the air! It was perfect!

Before she could get her coat on, she heard footsteps. It was either her aunt or her mother. "Rylie, what are you doing?" It was her mother. The girl turned around, facing the older woman, trying to give her the best puppy dog pout a nine-year-old could give.

"I wanna go play in the backyard," she lied sweetly. "Make snowmen and snowwomen and snow angels for when grandma and grandpa get here."

"In the middle of a snowstorm?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at her daughter.

"... Yes?"

"No, Rylie, we aren't doing that," Sam sighed, taking the girl's coat from her. "It's the middle of a snowstorm. You'll catch your death out there."

"But _mom_ -" The girl started whining.

" _No,_ Rylie."

The girl pouted. "Fine…" She mumbled, looking at the floor. "What can I do instead?" She asked.

"You could finish the gingerbread house?" Sam offered, remembering the girl hadn't finished it.

"No!" Rylie exclaimed rather suddenly, not noticing how everyone was looking at her now. "I can't finish it until grandma's here, she's the only one who can do the icing right!" With that, the girl plopped on the floor, sitting there and pouting.

"Rylie…" Sam sighed. "They'll be here, you know that."

"I want them here _now_!" She huffed, face turning red. She was getting so frustrated with everything!

"Rylie, why don't you go upstairs to your room and cool off for a bit?" Her mother said with a sigh. Rylie was about to argue when she added, "I'll call you when grandma gets here, alright?"

Without a word, Rylie got up and stormed off to her room on the second floor of the manor.

Once in her bedroom, the girl went to her closet and grabbed the thickest sweater she could find. Scribbling a quick note- something about going to go find grandma and grandpa- she put the paper on her bed. Giving her Stitch plush a kiss on the nose, she opened up the window, pulling the screen out.

"I'll find them, I promise," she whispered, putting the screen on the ground. With that, she stepped onto the roof of the sitting room, only to slip on the black ice that was building up on the shingles. With a loud scream that couldn't be heard over the howling of the wind, she fell face-first into the snow.

"Owowow…" She mumbled, pushing herself up. Her chest hurt so much, and her wrist ached. She must have landed wrong. The cold snow had gotten into her clothes, making her shiver as the cold air nipped at her exposed skin, but she shrugged it off, for now. She had a mission to do.

With that, she made her way towards the city, not even noticing the silver and green RV pull up in the driveway with a familiar ghost not far behind.

* * *

It had been a few hours since Rylie had gone to her room. Dinner had been going nicely, aside from the glares sent between the parents. No one had started arguing, which was definitely a plus. Rylie hadn't come down yet, either to finish the gingerbread house with her grandmother or to eat in general.

"Rylie, it's time for dinner!" Danny called from down the stairs. He wasn't _extremely_ worried. But he was a bit. It wasn't uncommon for her to hole herself up in her room. But to be _this_ quiet was unheard of for the autistic. She was usually making some kind of noise- talking to her Stitch plush was quite a common thing to hear throughout the house.

Sam walked over after a few second of not hearing anything. "Is she coming?" The woman asked with a frown.

"I don't know," Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked to his wife and frowned. "I'll go check on her," he said. "Maybe she just needs some dad jokes to cheer her up." He tried to smile slightly. Nothing was wrong. Even though his gut was telling him otherwise.

Sam hit him on the shoulder. "She doesn't need _your_ puns," she joked back. "Your puns are horrible."

With a chuckle, he went up the stairs, going to her room. _Nothing_ was wrong, he kept repeating to himself. He knocked on her door. "Ryles?" He asked.

No response.

He put his hand on the door knob. "I'm coming in, Rylie," he warned.

Still no response. Was she even in her room? No one had heard her leave, though...

With that, he opened the door. What was behind it wasn't something he was ready to see. He had faced countless ghosts wanting to kill him, a ghost king bent on enslaving humanity, and his own murderous future self. But seeing the snow starting to pile up under the open window, the note on her bed…

Rylie being missing was _not_ something he was expecting.

* * *

Rylie had been wandering in the snow for hours. Her limbs, especially her legs, were getting cold and tired. She couldn't see in the snow, which had just gotten worse as she trudged on. Her chest was hurting even worse than before, and her wrist felt really numb.

Everything was cold.

She was tired.

Why had she come out again?

Where was she, even?

"I want daddy…" She whimpered, sitting down against a tree. "I want mommy… I wanna go home…" She curled up into herself. She couldn't go on for much longer. She knew that much. This had been a horrible idea!

With a grunt, she got up. She needed to keep moving. She needed to find someone to help her. She couldn't just stay out here, she needed to be strong, like Phantom.

She couldn't keep walking for long, though. Within a few minutes, she collapsed again, unable to get up. "I- I can't…" She mumbled. "'m s- sorry…" With that, her eyes slid shut, her body giving into the warm brace of unconsciousness while her brain screamed at her to stay awake.

* * *

The Fenton manor had exploded when Danny had announced that Rylie had gone missing. Jazz had gone to call the police. Pamela and Jeremy, on the other hand, had taken to yelling at Danny while trying to calm down their only daughter.

"It's your fault she's gone!" Pamela Manson cried out, pointing at Danny. "You're _just_ like your parents!"

"If you had been watching her closer, she wouldn't have had the chance to leave!" Jeremy added, eyes narrowed.

 _How had she managed to slip out so easily?_ Why _did she decide to go out in this storm?_ The worried and panicked father thought as he tried to console his wife and get her parents to stop yelling at him. "Listen, Jazz is calling the police right now, arguing won't help find her-" Danny tried.

"She wouldn't be _lost_ if it wasn't for your lackluster parenting!"

"It's not our _son's_ fault Rylie went off on her own," Maddie interjected. "She was worried for us and decided to go out on her own. If anything, that makes it our fault."

It looked like the Manson parents were about to actually agree to that when Jazz walked back in the room, still on her cellphone. She was probably pleading with whoever picked up her call to find her niece, the blizzard be damned.

"Mom…" Danny sighed. "We can play the blame game _later_ ," he said, trying to keep his cool, trying to keep his eyes from glowing. His _little girl_ , his _baby,_ was out there in that storm, freezing, and he couldn't do anything about it if they kept yelling at him. "Right now, finding Rylie is all that matters."

Suddenly, Sam spoke up, her voice wavering a bit. "Danny, can I talk with you for a second?" She asked.

Danny nodded, leading his wife to another room before closing the door. "What is it?" He asked, looking extremely worried.

"Phantom should go looking for her," she said suddenly. "You know he's the only one who could possibly find her."

Danny frowned and nodded. It would be hard with this storm, but he had to make it work. "You need to figure out an excuse as to why I'm gone, then," he said. "For your parents, I mean, because I'm not going to get yelled at later for ignoring the search when I'm actually the only one able to brave the weather to go and look for her."

Sam nodded, hugging her husband tightly. He felt his shirt get a little wet. She was… Crying? It just showed how worried she was. "Go find her…" She said softly.

With that, Danny transformed and took off into the storm, going towards the woods that lay behind the manor.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Home?

Cold.

Everything was so cold.

Nothing felt alive. _She_ didn't feel alive.

Her heart wasn't beating.

Rylie shot up, snow falling off of her body. "What… What happened?" She asked herself, looking down at what _used_ to be her hands. Now they were large paws with _extremely_ sharp claws. They were covered in white fur with grey skin on the palms.

The young girl screamed, scrambling back. Her legs were covered in the same white fur and had the same sharp claws on them. She was hyperventilating- how was she doing that? She didn't have a heartbeat!

Her eyes widened in her panic. It was dark out, but she could still see, somehow. She saw something glinting in the distance. Ice, perhaps? She scrambled towards it, she couldn't be seeing what she was-

"No," she breathed. "No no no no no, I can't be dead, I can't be!" She exclaimed. In the ice, staring back at her, was a five foot tall yeti with small horns, snow-white fur, and glowing silver eyes.

"I- I'm a ghost, I'm actually a ghost," she said, eyes wide, her paws covering her face. "Mom and Dad will hate me forever. Grandma and Grandpa will hunt me down," she curled tightly into a ball, starting to shake and cry, glowing tears trailing down her face. "I'm a monster… I don't even _look_ human…"

She felt something slip out of her mouth, and then she felt something encase her feet. Opening her eyes, she saw her feet were frozen in a block of ice. She let out a shrill scream, frantically trying to break it until her feet just slipped through the ice.

Intangibility was handy, _when you remembered you had it._

"R- Right, I'm a ghost now…" She said, slowly standing up. "I guess I… Gotta go say bye to mom and dad…" She mumbled, looking around.

"Hey, you!" She heard a voice call. Phantom? She looked up, seeing her town's hero, freezing. He would surely put her in his thermos! The ghost landed, looking at the young girl. "Have you seen a little girl around here? Black hair, amethyst eyes, only wearing a sweater?"

"N- No, s- sorrry," she replied quickly. He was looking for her. But she couldn't tell him that she was who he was looking for! The girl sneezed, ice covering his feet. She looked at him, fearing the worst, and then ran off.

"Hey, wait!" He called out. "That's not the way to the nearest ghost portal!" He flew after her, easily catching up, until she got on all fours and started kicking snow at him to try and distract him. Then she took off again, hyperventilating. The girl was obviously panicked and not thinking straight.

He sputtered for a moment, watching her take off like a rocket. His eyes narrowed. He'd have to bring her back to Frostbite's the hard way, but that would have to wait because he still needed to find Rylie.

Taking out his thermos, he easily sucked the yeti ghost up into it. "This'll keep you safe from ghost hunters until I can get you to Frostbite," he sighed, feeling the thermos shake.

* * *

A few hours later, Danny came home, looking extremely dejected. His wife ran up to him, looking worriedly at him and around him for her daughter. He was still in his ghost form when he landed, but he quickly turned human as he walked into the house.

"Did you find her, Danny? Where is she?" Sam asked, panicked. She needed to know her baby girl was _safe_.

Sam's hair was a mess, and her makeup had long since been removed. Amethyst eyes glinted with worry that only a mother could have.

"I didn't find her," he shook his head and sighed. "I'm just here to get something to eat, then I'm going back out."

"I'll come with you, I'll take the Speeder-"

"What if she comes home, Sam?" Danny asked, looking at his wife. "Tomorrow. If I can't find her today, you can come with me tomorrow." With that, he gave her a tight hug. He needed it as much as she did, that was for sure.

"Is there something in the thermos?" Sam asked with a frown.

"Yeah," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "A Yeti ghost. I'm going to bring her back to Frostbite after we find Rylie."

"We'll find her, Sam," Danny said, holding his wife's hands. His eyes held determination. His expression was serious. "I promise."

* * *

A week passed by with no sign of the nine-year-old. Danny, beginning to worry she was stuck in the Ghost Zone, took the thermos and started off towards the Far Frozen. The Infimap would be able to help, right?

Once there, he met with Frostbite, who allowed him access to the Infimap. Then, he let out the young Yeti ghost. "Is she one of yours, Frostbite? I found her while looking for Rylie."

The young ghost saw the large Yeti and the famous, or infamous depending on who you asked, Danny Phantom and immediately backed up. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I was just trying to get home and- and- and-" She clammed up, covering her head.

"No, she is not one of ours, Great One. Her voice is not deep enough. But, if she has nowhere else to go, she may stay here," the larger Yeti said, looking at the younger one curiously. "Tell me, young one, what is your name?"

The young Yeti shook her head, turning around. She was obviously scared and had no idea what was going on. She wouldn't be answering for a while.

Danny frowned, taking the map in his hands. "While it's been great, I need to get back to looking for Rylie." He took a deep breath. "Take me to my daughter," he said. The map took him, circled the younger yeti ghost, and then stopped.

"... What?" He asked, looking at the two Yeti's. "I said to take me to my daughter." Nothing happened this time. "Take me to Rylie!" Still nothing. He looked to Frostbite. "Frostbite, the map is broken."

The older ghost frowned, looking at the two. "I fear not, Great One. You see, when a human perishes in the cold, they usually turn into a Yeti ghost, it is how most of the tribe was created."

"Y- You mean…" He looked at the younger ghost who had her back turned to all of them. "... Rylie?" He asked in a whisper. Then, he tensed, realizing she wouldn't recognize him as Phantom. He changed back, taking a small step towards the girl. "... Rylie? Sweetie?" He said, louder this time.

Rylie looked up, seeing her father, and tears sprung to life in her eyes. "I- I'm sorry, Daddy! I- I didn't mean to die, I was just- I wanted to look for Grandma and Grandpa too, but it was so cold out and I fell asleep and-"

Thinner arms wrapped themselves around her fuzzy frame. "I'm just glad you're safe, Rylie. I don't care if you're a human or a ghost, you're my _daughter_."

Silver eyes locked in on Danny's blue ones. "Y- You mean… You don't care?" She asked, surprised.

"You're still my baby girl regardless, Rylie," he affirmed with a nod.

"Great One, if you do not mind, I would like to run some tests," Frostbite interrupted with a frown. "As I said, our kind naturally has a deeper voice, yet hers is still the same."

"Of course," Danny replied with a frown. "Ry, Frostbite is a friend, okay? I'm not asking you to trust him, but just trust _me_."

"I trust you, daddy," she said softly, letting Danny and Frostbite lead her to a building that kind of looked like a hospital? If one was built into the side of a mountain, that is.

She had her ectoplasm drawn and samples taken. The Yeti Ghost Leader told them all about what to expect from Rylie- if they decided to bring her home. The growth spurts, how some things were different _because_ she was young.

Frostbite came back into the room with a frown on his face. "Great One, your daughter is _not_ a ghost, as we previously thought," he said seriously.

"So she's half ghost like me?" He asked, giving his ally a confused look.

"No, that is not it, either. You see… We cannot tell _what_ she is," he said with a frown. "She is not human or ghost, nor is she half ghost."

Rylie frowned. "Half ghost?" She asked, scratching her head. "I thought they weren't possible."

Danny sighed. "Ry, sweetie…" He said, standing up. He transformed into Phantom, looking at her.

"Y- You're Phantom as well?" She asked, looking confused. "But he- but you- I WAS PUT IN THE THERMOS!" She yelled, getting up.

"Rylie, I'm _sorry_! I didn't know and it was to protect you from the ghost hunters," he explained, trying to placate her. "If I had known, I wouldn't have done it. Frostbite, is there any way to make her turn human again?"

"I do not know, Great One. For now, she needs rest. She has had a stressful day," the elder ghost said. "She could stay here if you would like."

"No thanks, Frostbite. Sam's wondering where she is. We'll figure this out at home and let you know," Danny answered.

Rylie's nose twitched. She snorted, then let out a large sneeze that froze Danny's feet. "S- Sorry," she mumbled, rubbing her nose slightly.

"... She'll also need to come back for training," Danny sighed, phasing out of the ice. "It's fine, sweetie. You didn't mean it. Ready to go home?"

"Yeah!" Rylie exclaimed, her small cotton ball tail wagging. "How do we do that?" She asked.

"Well first…" He floated up. "Take my hand, and don't look down."

"Wait, are we going to _fly_?" She asked, eyes wide as she took his hand.

"Well, yeah. It's the quickest way home," he shrugged one shoulder and took off, holding onto Rylie's hand tightly.

"Eeep!" Rylie exclaimed, holding onto Danny's hand with both of her paws. They were going so fast and- suddenly they were in the lab?

She felt really… Tired. Her body felt heavier. She noticed that she shrank, but not much else as she passed out, her eyes sliding shut.

Danny looked towards his daughter when he noticed her weight shift in his hands and he noticed she was human again, and smaller once more.

"Ryles, you're human again," he said, not noticing she was asleep. "Ry?"

He heard her soft snores and smiled, picking her up bridal style. "Guess you need the sleep," he said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Welcome back."

He carried her upstairs quietly, only to bump into Sam once he entered the living room.

"Danny, you found her! Where was she, is she okay?" The panicked mother asked, looking her daughter over for injuries. Thankfully, there were none that she could see.

"She was… She's part ghost now. Not half ghost, part ghost," he said with a frown. "The yeti ghost I caught? That was her. Something happened out there, Sam. I need to find out what."

"What did Frostbite say?" Sam asked. "I mean, you brought her to him, did he try to find things out?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't even know what's going on," the father replied, feeling the young girl shift in his arms to better cuddle into him. His core responded to that by making him just a bit cooler for her.

"We'll figure it out," Sam sighed, looking at her daughter with a small smile. She was finally _home_. "She must've been exhausted, though."

"I'm gonna go put her in bed, _then_ we can talk about what to do next," he said, walking up the stairs and opening up the door to his daughter's bedroom. He made a duplicate, who pulled down the sheets, and he put her in her bed, tucking her in. "Good night, sweetie,"


	3. Chapter 3: Help

Everything was warm, but it was dark as well. It felt… Really uncomfortable. But also nice? Her body was still confused because of the new object in it. Her… Core…

That would never stop being weird to hear.

She had a core.

She was partially ghost now.

The young girl groaned, opening her eyes. She saw her dad with a long, black beard. Her eyes widened slightly. How long had she been asleep for!?

"Thank goodness you're finally awake, Rylie!" Danny said. "You've been asleep for _twenty-four years_!"

"Twenty-four years!?" She shrieked, amethyst eyes even wider. "Oh god, I'm-"

Before she could panic further, he took the beard off, revealing it to be a fake. "Rylie, Rylie, _calm down_!" He exclaimed, trying to hide his chuckles. "It was just a joke, it's only been a few days!"

A pillow was thrown in his face. "DAD!" She yelled, eyes flashing silver in her anger. "That wasn't funny!"

"Alright, alright," he said with a laugh, easily catching the pillow. "If you don't want to joke around, then someone's here to see you."

"... Who?" She asked, grabbing onto her Stitch plush and hugging the stuffed alien. He felt softer and different. She didn't really like it, but this was _Stitch_. She _needed_ him. Things were finally catching up to her, as well. Her head felt full of cotton balls and she had a headache. Luckily the lights were off and the shades were drawn, because her eyes couldn't take the little bits of sunlight streaming through the cracks in the shades.

Her bedroom door opened to show a familiar face- her Aunt Jazz!

"Hi Aunt Jazz," she said, waving meekly. Even _moving_ made her head hurt. She whimpered slightly.

"Oh shi- oot," Danny said, getting a look from Jazz. "You've probably got a headache, don't you? I'll go get something to help that while you talk with Aunt Jazz." With that, he left the room to go get… Whatever he was going to get.

"How're you feeling, sweetie?" Jazz asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at her niece.

"I feel sick and everything feels cold but these blankets make me feel kinda sick…" She mumbled, looking down and gripping the blankets tightly.

Jazz frowned. "I heard you met Frostbite, what was he like?" She tried.

"He was nice. He looked like my ghost but bigger," she shrugged. "Aunt Jazz, I'm hungry. Can we do this later, please?"

"Of course, sweetie. I'll go get you something to eat. Your dad should be back soon, okay?" She asked with a smile.

"Okay," Rylie mumbled, hugging her plush more and burying her face in the fur. She heard her aunt softly close the door and she frowned. She took the blankets off her body then sniffled. "Stitch, what do I do?" She asked softly. "I can't control my powers, I don't know _how_ to control them. I could hurt mom or aunt Jazz…"

Danny came back in the room seconds later, a smile on his face. He had a glass of water and some glowing green pills in his hands. "Here, Ryles, this'll help you feel better," he said with a smile.

"They're glowing," she said flatly, looking at her father.

"Well… Yeah. They're made for people like us," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "You won't taste anything, I promise"

The girl frowned, taking the pills and swallowing them down with the water. She made a face and stuck out her tongue. "Tastes like cough syrup," she said. "Where's Mom?"

"She had to go out but she'll be back soon. You need to take it easy, alright?" He said, looking at her with a small smile.

"Can I go downstairs at least, Daddy?" She asked, giving him the saddest puppy dog pout she could muster.

"Of course," he said, holding out his hand. "Just be careful, it's been a few days since you've had to use your legs."

She took his hand, standing up. Her legs wobbled slightly but with her father's support, she was at least standing. He lead her towards the stairs, letting Jazz know that Rylie would be coming down to eat.

They gathered at the table, Rylie sitting with a bowl of soup and salad in front of her. She frowned, mumbling something about how she wanted pizza, before she started to eat.

"Danny," Jazz started. "You really should-"

"I'm not bringing her there, Jazz! Not in front of Rylie!" Danny exclaimed, eyes narrowed.

Everything was silent for a few minutes.

Rylie frowned, hearing her father yell. What was he talking about? Bring her where? "Dad, where does Aunt Jazz want you to take me?" She asked, looking up from her bowl of soup.

"It doesn't matter, sweetie," he said with a sigh. "We're not going there, anyways."

Her frown deepened. "Okay, I guess," she mumbled, lowering her gaze to her empty bowl of soup and her plate of salad. She wasn't really hungry now. "Can I go upstairs now, Daddy?" She asked softly.

Danny frowned, noticing her change in mood. "Are you okay, sweetie?" He asked, looking worried. She usually wasn't ever like _this_.

"I… I'm fine. I'm just not hungry and I wanna go lay down some more," she said with a sigh, looking away from her father and aunt. Without another word, she got up. With shaking but stable legs, she made her way to the stairs and went to her room, quietly closing her door.

In her room, Rylie sat on her bed, looking into her hands. "What… What am I now? I'm not a human, I'm not a ghost, I'm not even like dad!" She softly exclaimed. "... Dad has a name for his form, maybe I should have a name for mine?" She looked at the polar bear plush she had. She had never liked the texture before, but maybe now?

"C'mere, Snowflake," she said, reaching over to grab the Webkinz plush. "Snowflake… I like that. Do you, Stitch?" She asked, looking at the blue plush. "Yeah… I'll be Snowflake." She hugged the polar bear closer.

* * *

It was a few hours later when Sam came up to check on Rylie. "Rylie?" She asked, opening the girl's bedroom door.

Rylie had been laying on her bed, just hugging the polar bear close to her chest. Her face was buried in the fuzz of the plush.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked, voice soft. She walked over to her daughter's bed, sitting on the edge. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

"M- Mommy," she said, voice cracking. It was obvious she had been crying earlier. "Wh- What am I?" She looked at her mother, her amethyst eyes filled with tears. "Daddy's half ghost, but I'm… I'm not. I'm not human, I'm not ghost… I don't know what I am."

"Rylie, you're my daughter. It doesn't matter if you're human, ghost, half ghost, or something else," her mother said, looking at the girl. She seemed so scared and so lost, it was all Sam could do to keep from crying herself. But she needed to be strong and sure, for Rylie's sake. "You're still _you_ ," Sam finished, hugging her daughter tightly.

"And we love you, Rylie, no matter what."

Sam felt Rylie shudder, heard her gasp as she broke down in sobs in her mother's arms. She stroked her daughter's hair, running her fingers through it the way she used to do when she was so much smaller than she was now.

"You're going to be okay, Rylie," she whispered into her daughter's hair.

"It'll be okay, I promise."

The girl buried her face in her mother's shoulder. She felt so lost, she felt like she couldn't do this, and here was her mother, trying to make her feel better. And it was working. Realizing that she still had her family, that they still cared about her even though she was an abomination to even half ghosts… It made her feel so much better.

After a good ten minutes of just hugging and crying, Rylie sniffled, pulling away from her mother. Her eyes were red from crying and she had to rub them to see properly again, but she put on a small smile. "Th- Thanks, mom," she said softly, "I feel a lot better now."

"I know this has to be hard, Rylie. But just know, you can always come and talk to me, or your dad, or Aunt Jazz," she replied. "Okay? There's no need to bottle it up."

Rylie quietly nodded. She didn't really feel up to talking at the moment, but she appreciated everything her mother said. She hadn't thought of it like that. Her dad was half ghost, he had to have half died like she did.


	4. Chapter 4: The Hunger

When she woke up, she felt different. Her stomach felt like a pit. It was currently two in the morning, and she couldn't sleep. She was just _so hungry_. She wanted something burnt, something tart.

With a sigh, Rylie got out of bed. If she wasn't going to sleep, then she should figure out what to eat. She was wearing her footie pajamas with little green ghosts on it that Grandpa Jack had ordered for the whole family. She never really wore them before, because the texture wasn't right then. But now, it was perfect. It felt _just right_ on her skin.

She quietly made her way down the stairs, in case her parents were sleeping. Opening the kitchen door, she looked for the refrigerator. Everything that was dark was now… Was now easier to see. Her ghost powers, perhaps?

She opened it, looking for _something_ to eat. There was nothing tart in the fridge, not even a pink grapefruit.

Shaking her head, she went to the pantry once she closed the doors. There, she grabbed some bread. Something burnt would taste good now, right?

Putting a slice of bread in the toaster, she turned the heat on high and waited. As the bread burnt, it started to smell _so good._ Once it popped up, she grabbed it, looking at the blackened square.

"Is… Is this even _edible_?" She asked herself with a frown. Oh well, only one way to find out.

She took a bite.

Instantly, she ran to the sink to spit it out, brushing her tongue off with her hands. That was _not_ something she wanted to repeat.

With her enhanced senses, she smelled something _delicious_. It was… Coming from the lab? "What could be in the lab that smells so good?" She asked herself, leaving the burnt toast near the sink. She'd get it later.

She made her way down the cold metal stairs, coming to a stop at the bottom to find a few blob ghosts in captivity. They were harmless, but the good smell was coming from their direction. Why?

In a haze of ghostly instinct, she walked over to the ghosts, her eyes glowing silver with a green tint. One of them floated closer, making adorable burbling sounds. Instead of petting the ghost, however, she grabbed it in a vice-like grip.

The blob squealed in pain and fear as she brought it to her face. This ghost smelled _so good_. Her jaw was wide-open, mouth salivating. Licking her lips, she was about to put it in her mouth when the lab door slammed open.

"Rylie?!" Her father's panicked voice called down the stairs. He couldn't see her yet, however. Couldn't see what she had _almost_ done.

The green tint to her eyes faded, leaving them a glowing silver, and she looked at the blob ghost in her hands, horror twisting her face. She let go, backing up to the opposite counter. Her breathing was hitched as she scrambled past a chair, knocking over some experiment in the process. She got up on top of the counter, curling into a ball and rocking. "No no no no no," she mumbled to herself, in shock.

"Rylie? Is that you? What's wrong, sweetie?" Danny asked, his tone filled with worry. He reached the bottom of the stairs, seeing Rylie curled up on the counter, eyes glowing a brilliant silver; he saw the blob ghost zipped into the opposite corner of the lab, dark green welts where it had been grabbed; he heard both of their distressed sounds and managed to put two and two together.

"Oh, Rylie…" He said softly, scooping her up. The girl instantly latched on and cried in his arms, going on and on about how she was so hungry but she didn't want to eat ghosts.

"I- I can't, daddy. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't can't can't…" The girl mumbled, crying harder. "Didn't want to hurt him. He was trying to be nice. He wanted to be pet. But I hurt him. I almost ate him."

"Shhhh, sweetie," he said, smoothing her hair down. "It'll be okay…" He brought her to the fridge down in the lab and sat down in a chair, letting her sit on his lap and rocking her slightly. She felt something different coming from him and heard… Was her father purring? He was — a soft, soothing vibration coming from his chest, from his core. A sensation she could burrow into and cling to as she sobbed.

After a few minutes, her sobs turned to hiccups and he opened the fridge door with telekinesis, bringing out a green smoothie. "Drink this," he said softly, handing it to her. "It'll help make that hunger go away. No ghosts went into making this, I swear."

It smelled so good, like the blobs. Not quite _as_ good, but good enough.

She took a small sip at first, before realizing _this_ was what she was looking for all along. She ended up drinking about three before she was full.

"D- Do you think he'll forgive me, daddy?" She asked, looking up with amethyst eyes. They had finally stopped glowing.

"Who?" He replied, before realizing. "Oh, the ghost! Well… You can try apologizing, if you want…" He said, letting her get off his lap.

The girl stood on the lab tiles, looking at the terrified blob ghost. "I- I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

The blob looked confused for a moment before apprehensively floating towards her. She kept her hand outstretched, like you would for a new dog. It seemed to realize that she wasn't going to hurt it and bumped its head up against her hand, burbling softly.

The youngest Fenton smiled slightly. It seemed that she was forgiven. Even though the thought of eating ghosts scared her, she knew her dad had a solution, so it made her feel better about this whole situation.

"I'm going to name you… Aoi," she said, petting the blob. "You can sleep in my room, okay?" With a smile, she brought him to the stairs. "Are you coming, daddy?" She asked, looking back at her father.

"Yeah, I just gotta clean this up, alright? You should go back to sleep and we'll talk in the morning."

"Okay, daddy. C'mon, Aoi!"

With that, they both made their way to Rylie's room. "Uh… Do full ghosts need to sleep?" She asked the blob, cocking her head in confusion.

All she got was a burble in response.

"Uh… Okay, so… I'm gonna lay down and you can do what you want, okay?" She said, crawling into bed. She was surprised that her new friend decided to 'lay' down next to her, purring softly.

She found herself instinctively purring back as she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

It was past noon when Rylie woke up again. With a large yawn, she sat up. Suddenly, Aoi was in her face, burbling happily at her.

"Hi, Aoi!" She said with a smile, petting the burbling blob. She noticed the welts, but they didn't seem to be hurting her new friend. "What time is it?"

She got a burble as a response.

"Some… Sometime in the afternoon?" She replied, having barely understood the blob.

Wait.

She understood Aoi. Barely, but she _did_.

"I… I can kinda understand you, buddy," she whispered, eyes wide. "That is _so cool_ ," she grinned and giggled, Aoi burbling along, seeming happy. Then, she noticed something stuck to her door. A note?

Getting out of bed, she walked towards her door, taking the note. It was in her mother's handwriting, she could tell that much.

 _Rylie_

 _Your father and I have to go out and deal with some ghosts. No cooking, we're not having a repeat of the Mac and Cheese incident. If we're not back before dinner, there's money on the table for pizza._

 _Love,_

 _Mom_

Well, that explained that.

"C'mon, Aoi, I gotta go practice my powers," Rylie said, opening the door. She ran down the stairs, her new blob friend following her.

When she got down into the lab, she took a deep breath. "What first?" She asked the blob, who turned invisible.

"Invisibility, huh?" She smiled, watching her friend turn visible again. "Alright, let's do this." Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on the feeling of not being there. It helped a lot that most kids in her class ignored the 'weird Fenton kid.'

Something went up her nose. Dust, perhaps? Either way, she quickly sneezed, losing any grasp on invisibility she had _and_ freezing the lab in a thick layer of ice.

"Oops," she mumbled, rubbing her nose since she froze the box of tissues. Her little blob friend phased themselves out of the ice they were encased in and gave an annoyed burble. "Sorry, Aoi," she mumbled.

"Rylie, we're home!" She heard her mother call from upstairs.

"How do I explain this to mom and dad?" She looked to her friend, worried. "I mean, I just _froze the lab_." The girl paced, her hands in her hair.

Her friend burbled in response.

"... I mean, yeah. It _was_ an accident. But still, Aoi!"

"Rylie?" Her mother called down the stairs. "Are you down there?" She heard footsteps as well. Was it her mother or father?

"Yeah…" She replied. "I kinda… Froze the lab…"

"I can see that," Danny said as he reached the final step. "How?"

"I don't really know," she whimpered softly with a frown. "I was trying to become invisible, then I sneezed and everything froze!"

"It's okay, sweetie. Accidents happen," he said, trying to calm her. "How about you go upstairs and talk to your mom? I'll clean up down here."

"Are… Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive," he smiled, transforming. Ecto-energy was a good way to get rid of ghostly ice.

The girl went up the stairs, followed by her blob-friend, and entered the kitchen. "Mom… Did dad have these kinds of problems with _his_ powers?" She asked, looking at her feet.

"He did," Sam replied. "Would you like to hear a small story about it?" She put some celery sticks on the kitchen table for the two to share.

Rylie sat down, looking up. "I… I guess so," she said, taking a piece as Aoi floated near her head.

"Well, for the whole month after he got his powers, he would randomly transform, or go invisible or intangible," she started. "And he almost sank through the floors at school, walked through a vending machine, and he even told your Uncle Tucker and I that he had woken up _under_ his bed."

"He woke up _under_ it?" She asked with a giggle.

"Mhm," Sam said with a nod, looking at her daughter.

"What else happened?" She asked, eyes wide with excitement.

"Well, there was the time when…"


End file.
